Plane carrying Nigeria squad for World Cup game forced to make emergency landing

NIGERIA'S football team was forced to make an emergency landing ahead of a make-or-break World Cup qualifier due to a CRACKED windscreen.

The Super Eagles are due to play the Benin Republic in a must-win World Cup qualifying game in Uyo on Tuesday.

However, a malfunction on the plane carrying the team on their way home following a 2-1 win over Lesotho forced them into an emergency landing.

The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) confirmed a large crack appeared on the aircraft’s windshield about 25 minutes after takeoff from Luanda, Angola, where they had made a routine refuelling stop.

This prompted the pilot of the chartered ValueJet Airline aircraft to initiate emergency procedures and return to the airport.

Everyone on board the flight including players, officials, and government delegates were safely evacuated upon landing.

The same aircraft had also flown members of the delegation to Polokwane on Thursday night before arriving in the South African city ahead of the crunch Lesotho qualifier on Friday morning.

Players involved in the Nigeria squad for October qualifiers include Premier League stars Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi, Frank Onyeka and Samuel Chukwueze, as well as superstars Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.

Plans for another aircraft to fly from Lagos and pick up the delegation in Luanda have already been drawn up.

The NFF said: "ValueJet Airline and the relevant Federal Government of Nigeria authorities, including the Hon. Minister of Aviation, the Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Chief of Staff to Mr President, are working assiduously to get the necessary overflying and landing permits for another aircraft to fly from Lagos, pick the delegation in Luanda and fly them to Uyo."

Nigeria currently sit third in Group C of Africa's qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup being hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Only the group winners in the format automatically qualify for the newly-expanded tournament, while the four best runners-up go into a play-off round.

Benin are top of the group, three points ahead of Nigeria with a goal difference of two better, meaning a win is crucial for the Super Eagles when the clash commences on Tuesday.

South Africa are second in the group and host Rwanda in their final qualifier.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 tournament in Qatar - their first time failing to make the tournament proper since 2006.

They have never progressed beyond the last 16 at the finals - most-recently achieving that result in 2014 when they lost 2-0 to France in Brazil.